You're in Runes
by Gir-loves-tacos-gooood
Summary: Lo-Fong is in dire need to recover a rune that has been passed through the family for years. Sigurd is also in dire need of that rune, and is harbouring a dark past that threatens to catch up with him. R&R please! Please?


**Old habbits die hard...Along with you**

It was do or die time- or so she had pictured it. Standing atop the Obel shore-line cliff, eyes hunting for the ship of the one and only legendary lady pirate Kika... Or Kiki, something like that.. She'd never really paid that much attention..But ending in an A or I, her legendary status still stood, only being furthered by her recent participation in the liberation of the Island Nations. But the reality of the situation was a step or three down from her romanticised imagination. How the _hell _could it have gone anymore wrong?

"Well...?"

A husky voice mused, causing Lo-Fong to force her eyes open which she had jammed shut from cringing. A loud, bitter laugh belonging to a young male broke through the deep voice of the other.

"So much for these kinds being 'stealthy' and all...Geez, I'm almost embarrassed for her!"

Another pang of wincing twisted her face. She would have assumed the cliché position of shame, crawled up into a ball, begging for the earth to swallow her up.. That was, if the long, thin, and very sharp blade wasn't keeping her chin tilted upward in the direction of its bearer. There she was, legendary Lady Pirate Kika.

"Yeah, no kiddin'...Dario sailing drunkenly through a pier is more subtle than this little stunt.."

The other, taller male at her side couldn't even pull up a smirk in cynicism. Nothing but an icy, disgusted look, only fluctuating to narrow his eyes ever so slightly; his brows submitting his forhead deeper into frown. He pulled a hand from behind his back to push back a lock of dark hair that had been annoying him with its presence in his eye line.

"Ah, gawd..."

Lo-Fong let out under her breath, which of course was tilted up and pushed past the ears of the Pirate Lady holding her in submission with the offer of death she had placed at her throat. It wasn't supposed to be like..well, like this.. She began fidgeting irritably, staring up wide-eyed at the trio of pirates in front of her.

She took in a sharp breath, her brows crashing into the centre of her forehead, forming a frown as she trembled with frustration and fear. She had yet to determine which motion weighed out the other. It was earlier this day, she had felt so confident about the success of her retrieval mission.

Walking along what now where mere crags of what was once the Obel coast-line, a girl stretched her arms above her head, inter-locking her fingers and pushing them outwards towards the sky, cringing a little at the sound of cracking.

"It's a good thing that self-inflicted arthritis thing is only a myth..Isn't it..?"

She asked her hands above her head, her head tilted to accept an answer from them. So she'd gone through a phase of drawing a moustache on her hand and making everyone call it Kevin..It had only gotten a little creepy when she'd slide her tongue through the make shift mouth made up of a thumb and index finger, and ran after her older and younger brother, or anyone else near-by for that matter; pretending "Kevin" was horny. She shudderd at the memory, and pushed it right back- It was those days of boredom! It was their fault! They _drove _her to it! That had to be it, the alternative was a little too scary to think of, that she was actually full-flying-bat-shit-tin-foil-hat-paranoia crazy. But she thought of it anyway. Her face clenched with that nauseating, yet familiar pang of self loathing from doing something completely fucking stupid in the past; which at the time seemed like something that would have made her look like the coolest person in the world. She seethed out a forced laugh, as if to quiet her mind, also her local bank of embarrassment. She let out a spurt of energy, quickening her steps towards the edge of the crags.

"Different times, Lo-Fong! Different times!"

She reassured herself, smirking a huge dorky grin at the turquoise sea below her, her hands on her hips.

"Heheh! I'll get that rune, and that'll be my ticket to a new life! Then those fuddy-duddy's will see!"

The rune she spoke of, was an ancient rune passed down generations of the Fong family; entrusted to them for it's safe protection. Of course, this current generation of Fong's saw little need for such an heirloom, and traded it with a couple of pirates years back; for a boat, which they barely made it to Mido Island in. Her younger brother, Lo-Hak thought it would be a brilliant idea to try and catch fish by shooting arrows into the sea. Of course, he got the boat instead. However, what regret that decision was at right now. Who knew the rune would be of any importance besides trading for booze and transportation? Her information sources had pointed her in the direction of the one and only, Lady Kika.

She cackled a little, narrowing her eyes toward the horizon, awaiting a ship bearing the skull and cross bones onto the bow. Her luck couldn't get any better today, a merchant in town had tipped her off about the Lady Pirate's where-abouts, at the price of being hassled into buying 10 miso mackerel stews of course, which she later traded for some shiny new throwing darts from another merchant. A girl's gotta have some sort of back-up plan if things go horribly, horribly tits up.

Being superstitious, she thought happily to herself how the successful pilfering of the rune would be the third lucky thing to happen to her today. Of course, that feeling, the feeling the universe was egging her on to do this; began to quickly deflate after waiting three hours in the same spot..experiencing the beautiful encouraging bird song accompanying the mid-day, turn into a pessimistic twilight, with a chorus of crickets, as if to mock her.

Letting out a groan, she rolled onto her back, pulling, twirling at some hairs that had strayed from her bun inan irritated fashion.

"This is defiantly a bad omen..Maybe- Maybe the universe is trying to tell me this actually isn't a good idea after all.."

Her left eye twitched a little bit, indicating something had snapped..Perhaps it was the week of having practically no one else to talk manically to, but herself, not Kevin, herself. Or perhaps it was the notion of not being able to have something to gloat stupidly about in near future to anyone or anything that would listen. Last time she stayed up past 1'o clock in the morning, and boy did she brag about her rebel blood.

"Well, you can't steal something that's rightfully yours, universe! Swivel on that the next time you try to dish me out some 'bad karma!'

Her manic yelling into the air was interrupted by the sound of a ship cutting through the waves below her, and she paused for a moment in utter shock as she watched it sail on by without any consideration for her waiting so patiently. Catching sight of the skull and cross bones emblem, she threw a fist into the ground, wondering how the hell she was going to catch up now. She was supposed to intercept the ship's arrival time, waiting for the absolute perfect moment to get down to the port, and wait for her perfect moment to strike.

"Oh very funny! I suppose you think that's so clever!"

She yelled into the air, to "karma".

A young man on board the ship had his elbow lazily resting upon the side of the ship, his yawn being interrupted by the manic ranting of a certain voice. Jabbing a thumb in the direction of the cliff, the scruffy- haired brunette let out a snarky laugh.

"Hey, what's up with that chick?"

When no response from his companions, he turned to them, his brows dealing a pseudo frown.

"Oh, come on now...No need to look so glum! We'll figure something out...I mean.."

He looked over the side, noticing they were reaching their destination with occupied eyes, trying to think of a way to word it better. He hated seeing the woman he respected and worked under with such pride adorn such a bleak look. If it was even breaking some emotion into Kika of all people's faces, it had to be bad. He took in a breath, and shook his head. How dare depression take its toll on even Hervey the Furious' complexion?

"All we gotta do is refuse the offer right? And if they wanna fight about it- we'll just give 'em hell! You with me, Sig?"

He looked across to the other one of Kika's side. A classically handsome man some may say, tall, dark, well-dressed. It was too bad he could never manage to compliment all that with some charm.

"Mmm.."

Was all that was flung back to Hervey. His usual stiff, ridged position assumed, his dark eyes focusing in the exact same direction as their Captain's. His mouth hung open a little, letting out a quiet sigh before closing his eyes over. Hervey's mouth was too loud for his likings. Of course he'd grown to accept it, and him as a trusted partner and friend, but it was at times like this, he wished Hervey would just shut the hell up, and let him escape into thought.

"Well, good to see you're still acting the same as ever. I guess that's a good enough sign for now."

Hervey threw a laugh out into the sombre air, his mismatched upbeat personality with the mood causing Sigurd to throw him deadly side-glance, along with a viper tongue.

"You just don't get it do you? People like you usually don't. Trying to pretend everything's fine..It's embarrassing to watch."

"What the hell's your problem, man? What? You wanna be miserable and wallow in it? Fine! Go right the hell ahead! At least I'm looking at this in some sorta damn light."

"Heh, is that what you're calling it these days?"

Sigurd retorted, his head shaking lightly as he closed his eyes over, seething the grim look away from the world.

"Enough."

Kika's husky voice spat out, her eyes picking up momenteraly as they came to dock in Obel. Turning on her heel, she began down the centre of her ship, shaking her head a little.

"I wish I didn't have to request the help of Lino En Kuldus..But here I am...An eye for an eye, right?"

"Yeah, but that leaves everyone blind."

Hervey chimed in with a pleasant soft tone, trying to lift her mood, if only a little.

She let out a humourless laugh, shaking her head again, as she threw her hands up in the air, gesturing her confusion.

Turning back to Sigurd, he grumbled a little, pissed off he got to have the last word in their argument. He shot him a look, his eyes scaling him aggressively from tip to toe.

"You've been so tetchy lately! What? Is it because Lady Kika's ordered you to keep to the nest? You know she only needs one of us to go with her next time! Pretty damn sure you know why too. I suggest you get the hell over it!"

And with that, he too followed Kika's lead off of the the ship, onto Obel soil, beaming with pride he'd actually got the last word in for a change. Usually Sigurd would beat him with some quick, snarky, clever little comment. He was a smart-ass bastard like that. But this time it never came. It made Hervey feel a little uneasy, and he turned back to face his partner.

"You coming or what?"

He was met by another deathly glare, as if hinting for him to get away as quickly as possible before he did something to him he'd sooner or later regret. It would be much later than sooner at this rate however.

"Fine, you stay here and enjoy your doom and gloom! Oh sorry! I mean your 'time for thinking'.."

Hervey rolled his eyes as he strode backwards, still facing his partner in the opposite direction. Going out of his way to attempt to evoke some sort of reaction from the taller one, he interjecteted hand quotation signs. It seemed to work, because a needle was flung at the ground before his feet.

"Let that be warning shot, you little shit..."

Hervey couldn't help but let out a laugh, despite being threatend. He grinned and turned away from him, beginning to speed up his pace in order to catch up with Kika. It just somehow felt right with him getting the last word in.

Lo Fong, severely out of breath, and looking worse for wear, had finally managed to stumble down the crags with all the grace of a drunk. Hunching over, she gasped in vast amounts of air, wheezing them out rythematically. She could have done without falling the rest of the way.

Pushing out one final breath, she collected her thoughts together, and put her motivation back in order. Balling a hand into a fist, she beamed wildly at the sight of her boat-shaped prey. It was still docked, even though it was well into the night now. There didn't appear to be any light through the port-holes, no indication of life.

The manic grin plastered to her face subdued into a sly little smirk, as she brushed the blue kimono styled top free from dirt. She pulled her hair that had become mattered and tangled down free, quickly forming a bun on top of her head and pushing a pin through to hold it in place. Even thieving required looking presentable, you know.

Approaching the boat, she pushed a finger into her cheek, her lips curling a little in wonder.

"How to do this...The room it's kept in will be most likely locked, so.."

Shaking her head, she began boarding the ship in a less than quiet and subtle manner any theif without a solid back-up plan should take.

"Ah, hell! I'll just pick the damn lock! Piece of piss!"

She reassured herself, her head held high, and her small eyes glistening in a determined light. Reaching out a hand, she grabbed at the handle to the cabin door, her other hand pulling out one of her throwing needles ready to pick the lock. To her surprise however, it was unlocked, and the door opened with not even a creek. She grinned, not being able to stop herself from cackling lowly.

"Heheh..For a 'legendary pirate', she sure is stupid when it comes to security! Too trusting! That's her problem! People are becoming slightly more soft these days without Kooluk threat..Not that I'm complaining of course!"

Moving into the cabin, she made the conscious decision of not lighting any lamps. After all, what if the pirate captain, and her crew came back to the sight of a well-lit port hole on their ship? They would have known something was up, something that would lead to an inevitable hanging, drawing and last but not least, quartering. At least if they did come back, she could bolt behind something and use the dark as a cover.

"Not just a pretty face!"

She let out a loud, self-satisfied laugh, waiting for her eyes to adjust to the deathly-like darkness within the ship.

She couldn't believe her eyes, there it was, the ivory box that held the contained the rune- just there... Unguarded in the middle of a table, home to four bottles of rum, three of which were empty. She shook her head, her brows dragging her expression into frown. This was too easy..A fake maybe? Ahe wonderd as she the box up with tentative hands, along with a neglected full bottle of rum. She crept closer to a nearby porthole, the light from the moon bouncing off of the golden emblem of the ivory box, containing the rune.

She let out a gasp, her eyes widening, and her legs shaking a little due to the adrenaline flowing through her body. There was no mistaking that emblem, she had seen, and tried to pass off so many fakes before, and this was defiantly not fake.

"Oh my, my!"

Turning it sideways, she felt across the lock of the box. It was a small obstical, all she needed to do was get the hell out of there and she could pick it later.

"I-I can't believe it! Oh, thank you karma! I knew you'd really come through for me! I didn't mean it! You're not such a twat-bag!"

She stammered, her legs, which were about to give way, about to make a move towards the door.

She always knew talking to herself was going to bite her on the ass one day, but she hadn't counted on it being this day.

The sound of a muffled voice caught Sigurd's attention, and he stood from the chair he had been slumped against for the last couple of hours, lost in his train of thought. The dark had always helped to settle his mind, creating less distraction from everything around him.

Frowning, he pulled his room door open, staying put against it's frame for a moment, listening for any other sounds. Kika and Hervey?

"Yes, yes, yes!"

That was it, that certainly wasn't Kika's voice. It was a shrewd, unpleasant high pitch that cut through his ears. Swinging the door to the cabin hall open, he took a powerful stride out, his usual calm expression twisted from rage. He was in no mood for any messing around right now.

"Who is that?"

He hissed, causing Lo Fong to let out a gasp, partly from shock, and partly from a stone in her shoe. Before she had much time to react or even gather a single word of thought, a couple of needles struck out in her direction, pinning the fabric of her kimono wrap tightly against the wall, and of course her with it.

In shock, she dropped the box causing it to drop to the floor with a wince-inducing crash.

"O-Oh- fu-!"

She didn't have much time to finish that thought, as Sigurd's tall form was now towering over hers, his dark eyes holding nothing but contempt. Since he hadn't had much previous interactions with her onboard Lazlo's ship, his brain took a little time finding some familiar qualities in the face.

She let out a shriek, her hand futilely grasping at one of the needles holding her in place. It wasn't fair! She was so close! And now she was going to be killed by either Sigurd or Hervey, she hadn't bothered to learn which one was which.

"I-I don't wanna die in this dive of a ship!"

Light began to gradually chase away the darkness of the cabin hallway, and another familiar voice called out.

"Who's going to die where now?"

Sigurd took his eyes off the fidgeting Lo Fong for a moment, to turn his attentions to the direction of the voice. Hervey strode over to Sigurd's position, his lips turned up in amusement as he looked upon Lo Fong, who was still grappling desperately with the needles.

"Well, well- just what do we have here?"

His smile depleted, only to return a few moments later, his eyes sparkling with recognition.

"Oh! I remember you! Lo-Fing, Lo Hal, of those!"

"It's Lo-FONG, dammit!"

Even though he shared in the same talent for poor remembrance of names as she did, it was different- I mean how could he forget the name of such a beautiful, young woman such as herself?

"One-once I get free, I'm gonna kick some ass!"

She barked, remembering what her older brother, Lo-Seng had told her one time- intimidation is a solid battle technique..Even if your opponents are the legendary Lady Pirate Kika and her left and right hand men.

Kika's quite amused expression turned into one of sheer fury when she noticed Lo-Fong's right foot attempting to drag the ivory box on the floor towards herself. Pushing past both Sigurd, and Hervey, she snatched the boxed up off of the floor, handing it to Sigurd, whose eyes widened when he received it within his hands.

"_This_ is what she was after...?"

He let out under his breath in an almost horrified tone. Without much care, Kika ripped the needles free of the wall, and grabbed the girl's left wrist, forcefully throwing her to the floor.

And that was how it happened. Something that could have been so simple, destroyed by her habit of talking to herself. She cursed inwardly, Lo-Hak, her younger brother was always telling her off for talking to herself..If only she'd bothered to listen to the smug bastard! He'd only promised she'd end up with the looney bin fate variety, not the death sentence kind...

Things happen for a reason...Don't they...?

Lo Fong let out a deep sigh, she had woken up a short while ago, and thanked karma or whoever it was, that she was still alive, and still had all of her limbs intact...For now. She fidgeted a little, trying to put some feeling back into her lower half. Being tied up and chucked into the brig for this long was just cruel!

She thought with her brows fused towards the ceiling. She had noticed dull light peeking through cracks in the wood of the ship, and assumed it was morning already.

"Damn that Sigurd or Hervey!"

She barked, fidgeting again in attempt to resume some feeling to her dead arms also.

"If only that Pirate bitch hadn't taken away my throwing needles, I would have been out of here like that-"

Realising her fingers were too numb to produce a click, she let out another frustrated scream.

"Geez, maybe we should have gagged you too-"

The recently become familiar voice caused her eyes to widen, and she turned her neck as far as her bindings would allow, and she snorted when the scruffy haired Brunette entered her eye-line. Not that anyone else would have been met with any less contempt.

"Oh, it's you...Herv or Siggy.."

She stuck her tongue out a little, her eyes closing over lightly for a moment. Crouching next to her, Hervey frowned toward the girl.

"Hey, hey! That's Hervey the Furious! And don't you forget about it!"

He smirked stupidly, causing Lo Fong to pull another face, her brow deepening in frown.

"Psh! What a stupid name! Did you think that one up yourself? What a dork! You see, this is exactly why I go for older men!"

Hervey, narrowing his eyes, stood; bringing Lo-Fong up in the process, flinging her over his shoulder with the same level of care if she was a sack of spuds.

"Wh-what the hell are you doing, you stupid dork? I-I'll rip your spine out through your ass!"

Her intimidation technique wasn't quite working quite as well as she'd hoped. In fact it only seemed to make matters worse, as Hervey made sure to walk under the part of the hallway with the loose hanging lamp, smacking Lo-Fong square in the face.

Placing her down with about as much care as he'd picked her up, he smirked at the other two in the Captain's quarters he'd brought her to.

"Here's the 'thief', what about we consider the first option again though? This girl knows no respect!"

It invoked a tongue being pulled in his direction once more, as well as Kika stepping forward to crouch down in front of the girl. Lo-Fong couldn't help but gasp a little, this was it- she was going to be given her death sentence for sure. Surprisingly however, the Captain's face held an amused smirk, rather than the fury it held last night.

"Hmm..if it had been anyone one else, perhaps..But there is the fact we were once allies with this girl."

"Th-that's right! Allies! Good, close...uh-allies!"

Lo-Fong choked out, desperately clinging to any straws she could find.

"It's in that case, however I feel a little more betrayed, perhaps.."

A small 'eep' escaped Lo-Fong's throat, and she began to fidget. This was it, she was most defiantly going to die. With this realisation, she shot the pirate captain a look, her nose wrinkled with anger as she yelled at her.

"So what? You gonna make me 'walk the plank?' Oh! How original! Or maybe you'll get your two lap dogs to off me! Ooo! Whatever the hell you're gonna do, just do it, already!"

Sigurd, who was standing behind the desk holding a map, and the ivory box as its contents, strode forward, a look of equal, if not more anger crippling his face.

"Hold your tongue, or I will be tempted to take up your offer, you vile wretch!"

Even Hervey was a little taken-a back by this uncharacteristic outburst. Sigurd was usually so conserved...Hervey scratched at the back of his neck, forcing out a grunt past his lips. Guess he hasn't _quite _gotten over his tetchiness yet, he concluded with a roll of his eyes.

He was interrupted with the sound of Kika letting out a burst of laughter. This took back not only Sigurd, and Hervey, but Lo-Fong too, who was beginning to look even more unnerved as the laugh held it's note.

"Uh..Lady Kika..?"

Sigurd began, being paused by Kika's hand. He looked across to Hervey, who raised his shoulders in a shrug, looking equally as confused as him.

"I suppose I should give you some credit for having the spine to talk to me like that, hmm?"

She placed a look upon Lo Fong, her eyes narrowing, and a smirk playing out across her lips. Folding her arms, she cocked her head upward a little, her eyes narrowing.

"I suppose killing you would be a little too much. After all, I doubt you know what the true value of that seal is, correct?"

Lifting a gloved finger that was rested against her elbow, she pointed toward the ivory box sitting upon the map. The question made Lo-Fong jump a little, and her eyes widened. _If only she knew... _She thought to herself, not being able to stifle a small grin.

"Well?"

Asked Kika, removing her arms from a crossed position, bringing one hand to rest upon her hip. It snapped Lo-Fong into reality, and she quickly shook her head, clearing her throat with a cough.

"Uh, no! Of course not! It just kinda looked valuable, you know? Heh heh.."

Laughing nervously, she breathed a sigh of relief. From the way the conversation was going, it looked like she may get out of this relatively alive. She hadn't anticipated what the pirate captain would say next however.

"In exchange for letting you keep all your limbs, how about working for me? I'm a little short on chore staff these days."

"WHAT? Become your skivey? Don't make me laugh!"

Kika gave a humourless chuckle, unsheathing one of her swords, and jabbing it forcefully into Lo-Fong's right shoulder.

"Oh, I see..That's a shame. I hope you weren't too attached to your arm.."

Letting out a shriek, Lo-Fong shut her eyes tightly, shaking her head.

"Okay, okay! Fine!"

Slipping the sword underneath the rope across Lo-Fong' shoulder, Kika released the part that kept her hands bound behind her back, allowing the girl to wriggle out free herself.

"But, lady Kika! What if she were to attempt such a stunt again?"

Lo-Fong couldn't help but shake her head to herself, rolling her eyes as she stepped out of the rope, throwing it to the side. Brushing herself down, she pulled the ends of her kimono top down, letting it fall in place where it was supposed to.

"Geez, what a straight-laced guy..How boring..."

She mused underneath her breath.

"Mm, that's why I'm assigning you to watch over her, Sigurd."

Sigurd almost choked, and had to take a couple of moments to take this in, before letting out a mortified:

"WHAT?"

Hervey couldn't help but allow the laugh to erupt from his mouth that had been building in his throat for a while now.

"Oh, man! That's priceless! Sigurd! The 'skivey' baby-sitter!"

Sigurd stammered, taking a few steps towards his captain, uncharacteristically flailing his hands about in protest.

"Lady Kika, please- I hardly think this qualifies in my area of expertise! Why not have Dario perform the task instead?"

Hervey's laugh settled down as he shook his head, throwing his hands up in the air with a small shrug.

"Oh please, she'd have the whole island pilfered in a matter of seconds if Dario where to watch her! Plus it's not like you can come out with us next time we set sail."

His expression seemed to straighten out a little at the last part of his sentence; however it was quickly pushed aside with another snicker from the look on Sigurd's face. He looked mortified, horrified, traumatized even. It was priceless. He didn't even seem to notice Lo Fong circulating around him, picking up a pattern of narrowing her eyes towards him, then letting out a sharp sigh of annoyance.

She eventually took a small step back, giving her a chance to give him the once over. With a noise suggesting she'd reached a conclusion, she pulled her hands around the back of her neck, propping her head up.

"Yeah, he's got potential...Just give him thirty years or so..."

Kika couldn't help but let out a small chuckle, brining one hand up to shrug her left shoulder.

"Well then, I suppose that's that."

Sigurd had to pinch the bridge of his nose to stop an oncoming migraine. He could now finally understand why Dario had turned to hard drinking. The thought made him go cold, _he_ understood something of the way of Dario's thinking. Shuddering, he shook his head. This was defiantly a low point.

A pirate's life's...Not so much for me

"Siggy!"

As Sigurd stood at the nest of pirates, waving off his captain and partner, there was one nagging problem circulated around him, if only he could keep a reserved mask just long enough for Kika and Hervey to disappear into the horizon, he could kill Lo-Fong and bury her underneath the scaffolding on the far right of the island's coast. Anyone asked, a shark got her.

"We'll be back in a few days. I'm sure you understand why it's best for you not to come."

Kika raised her voice down to Sigurd, pinching the gap between distance, and Lo-Fong's constant grumbling and failed attempts to get Sigurd's attention for enough time just to ask him where the damn toilets where on this godforsaken island.

"Have fun babysitting!"

Hervey's voice echoed annoyingly, contributing to the bulging vein in the side of Sigurd's head. He had to pinch the gap between the bridge of his nose again. This migraine was going to be a bitch.

"Yo, Siggy!"

He kept his eyes focused on the ship getting farther and farther away.

"Count back from ten..deep breaths..."

He muttered to himself underneath his breath, a couple of slogan techniques he's picked up for keeping his cool over the years.

"SIGGY!"

No slogan was going to help him keep his cool with this situation, her shrill voice cutting through his ears like one of his throwing needles. Eventually he snapped, and turned to give her sharp look.

"What?"

Lo-Fong seemed less than affected by his sharp tone, and she simply jabbed an index finger ahead of her, gesturing towards the leaving ship.

"So, why aren't you going with them? Are you a loser or something?"

Sigurd choked out a grunt, stammering a little as his expression gradually worsened, much to Lo-Fong's amusement.

"Ah, I get it! She just mustn't feel the same way you do. Maybe this is her way of telling you she chose him over you. I've read all about those subtle little ways us women tell the other man they've been rejected in those romance books I have! Tough luck."

"Wh-what are you talking about? Keep your hobbies to yourself! Because I certainly don't want to hear about them- And it's none of your concern anyway."

Lo-Fong couldn't help but grin at the light blush that had illuminated his pale cheeks as he spoke, her eyes narrowing ever so slightly.

"Siggy, could it be...You have a crush on that Kiki lady?"

Sigurd let out a groan, he began pacing furiously towards the cave which hosted it's pirate occupants. He tried to drown out that incessant girl's giggling with yelling back to her.

"It's Kik-a. And you could do with having a little more respect for a woman who has seen it fit for whatever reason to spare your life."

Placing a hand on his hip, he stopped beside the cavern entrance, waiting for Lo-Fong to catch up.

"And stop referring to me as 'Siggy'."

"Tsk, poor love sick Siggy! I hear ya though, I like the older ones too."

Folding his arms, he growled a little underneath his breath, watching her stop in front of him with that stupid grin beaming up to him.

"Are you even listening to me? Or yourself for that matter?"

"Yeah, yeah..You want some Kiki lovin' badly, blah, blah, blah.."

Lo-Fong folded her arms over, her lips forming and holding a horizontal line of confused contempt.

"I'd be embarrassed for you if I wasn't so pissed off!"

Sigurd, who let out a mere 'humph' of disapproval continued within the cavern. His thoughts nagging at him all at once, he panned his eyes about the currently empty cavern, due to its usual occupants being out to sea with Dario and his assumed son, Naleo. He had to resist the temptation of an unoccupied bar, the familiar throb in the right side of his head returning once he heard a taunting noise coming from behind him. Turning around abruptly, he shot the girl down with a stare.

"What? What is it?"

Shrugging a little, Lo-Fong halted her noise of disapproval,

"Oh, nothing...Just..when I heard you people where 'pirates' I expected...well, a lot more, ya know? Some excitement, or someone biting someone's ear off...Somethin' like that...ya know?"

She cocked her head to the side, much to Sigurd's bemusement.

"We're not all blood-thirsty, uncouth clichés, you know."

Lo-Fong, who was too busy scoping her new surroundings out, took little to none of Sigurd's irritated statement in. This was going to be easy, she thought to herself with a low chuckle; causing Sigurd to raise a brow.

Only Sigurd, and a couple of drunken pirates knocking around the place? If it was one thing she was good at, it was getting men drunk and extorting them of their valuables. Just a little hobby she'd picked up running the spa on Mordo Island. The spa itself being an 'extorted valuable'.

"So...Sigurd, care for a drink? You look stressed."

She asked with pseudo concern, completing the tone with a fake expression of worry.

"It can't be easy for you, being separated from your heart's desire, with that letch Hervey hanging around. They could be up to heaven's knows what!"

She spoke in an embarrassingly mock-sympathetic tone, striding towards the bar. The look of smugness was knocked off her face when she felt a hand drag her elbow back roughly.

"Oh, no you don't."

Sneered Sigurd, what little patience he had left being ebbed away even further. Apparently, he was going to be harder to manipulate than a lonely middle aged man who was having 'marital troubles'. She seethed out a rough sigh.

"Too soon?"

She asked, her head tilting back in his direction, a somewhat sheepish look playing across her face from being so transparent.

"It's too soon for you to even breathe."

Sneered Sigurd, tilting his head up, only slightly to direct his eyes away from the root of his head-ache.


End file.
